Balloon system



April 18, 196l-- P. E. YosT I Re. 24,966

BALLOON SYSTEM Original Filed Dec. 17, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.Paul 5- You H 7' TORNEY BALLOON SYSTEM Original Filed Dec. 17. 1956 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Paul Yosf ,9 Tron/v5 Y BALLOON SYSTEM Paul E. Yost, Sioux Falls, 8.Daln, asslgnor to Raven Industries, Inc., Sioux Falls, 5. Dak., acorporation of South Dakota No. 2,932,469, dated Apr. 12, 1960, Ser. No.628,914, Dec. 17, 1956. Application for rersue Sept. 19, 1960, Ser. No.57,090 g 8 Claims. clien sm ;Matter enclosed in heavy I] appears theoriginal patent but forms no part of this reissue specifi cation; mutterprinted in italics indicates the additions made by reissue.

My invention relates to a balloon system.

An object of my invention is to provide an improved balloon systempertaining particularly to that type of balloon using thin plastic filmmaterial, and that type of balloon which is adapted to carry propaganda,or scientific instruments, etc., to desired positions or elevations.

A further object of my invention is to provide a balloon of this typewith attendant means for valving the gas in the balloon through acertain flap or channel arrangement.

A further object of my invention is to provide a means attached to theballoon for supporting the load to be released, and whereby release ofthe load at the predetermined interval will cause the lower end of theballoon to open. I

A further object of my invention is to provide means for evacuating thelifting gas after the load has been released, and to further provide aspecial type of device for releasing the load.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a means forsupporting the load by means of an arrangement which cooperates to alsorelease the gas without the necessity of using shrouds or otherattaching means.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in theconstruction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of mydevice, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinaftermore fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a forward elevation of the balloon in its I lifting or fullyinflated condition,

Figure 2 is a detail of the releasing mechanism,

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the lines 3-3 ofFigure 2,

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the lines 4-4 ofFigure 2,

Figure 5 is a modification,

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional detail of a portion of Figure 5,

Figure 7 is an enlarged view showing the disposition of certain of theparts when the balloon loop is released, and just before the load isreleased, and

Figure 8 is a further view showing the disposition of the same parts asthe load is released, and showing the inverted balloon at a distance.

My invention relates generally to balloons principally using hydrogengas, it being understood, however, that many of the principles involvedcan apply to any type of balloon. In many cases, in certain countrieswhere propaganda leaflets are to be dropped, helium is not available andhydrogen must be used, and after the propaganda has been released, suchballoons through gradual dissipation of the hydrogen will settle to theearth, and, however, will still contain a certain amount of the hydrogentherein which is relatively dangerous it brought Reissued Apr. 18, 1961near a flame and the like, one of the objectives of my invention beingto insure that all of the hydrogen is completely evacuated. My inventionfurther contemplates the provision of the various other objectsmentioned hereinabove, and especially the simultaneous opening of theballoon and releasing oi the load.

I have used the character 10 to designate the balloon generally, theballoon being made of very thin plastic material, the balloon beingsealed along the top edge 11, and attached to the top edge 11 I place asmall weight 12.

Secured to both sides of the balloon is a small ring or grommet 13 (seeFigure 4), it being noted thatthis grommet will securely tie the twosides of the balloon together at this point. Secured to the grommet 13at 14 is a double cord '15 which passes about a lower portion of theballoomthis cord 15 thence passing through the ring or grommet 13 andthence passing downwardly in its looped formation where his received at16 under the small lever portion 17 which is a continuation of the arm18 (see Figure 2), the arm 18 extending into the upwardly extendingportion 19, and passing between the portions 18 and 19 at 20 is a loopedcord 21 which is tied at 22 to the counter-weight 23. The counter-weight23 can be made of any suitable material such as Dry Ice, or any othermaterial which will gradually evaporate or 'become dissipated andcorrespondingly will lose weight.

The arm 18 includes a small notch at 24 over which passes a furtherlooped cord 25 which is secured at 26 beneath the hook portion 27 of themember 28 which extends into the further hook portion 29, and attachedabout the portion 28 at 30 is a double looped cord 31 which passes aboutthe load 32, the end of the looped cord thence beingslipped over the endof the book 29 at 33. The load 32 in the present instance is shown as apackage of leaflets which are to be dropped over a certainarea,'however, it should be specifically understood that this load couldbe in any other form, particularly parachutes carrying scientificinstruments, etc.

When the balloon is started on its flight, it is arranged substantiallyas shown in Figure l, the noose portion of the cord 15 of course beinglonger than that shown, andthe hydrogen gas can be introduced betweenthe pair of flaps 34 which meat the lower right-hand corner of theballoon, these flaps at the portion 35 not being sealed.

The load and releasing mechanism is allowed to drop to the positionshown and in the manner shown, whereby the noose 15 will draw up thefolds of the material to the positions shown in Figures 1 and 2, therebyfairly tightly closing the balloon at this point, however, the hydrogenwill not escape due to the fact that the greater outside pressure willprevent the same. As the balloon rises, the flaps 34 will provide avalve which will allow the excess hydrogen pressure to escape along theline 35, but will not allow the entrance of air since the flaps willclose due to the outside pressure, and as a result an efiicient valve isprovided by means of the flaps 34. This valving will continue until thesystem comes into equilibrium and the balloon system will remainfloating until the equilibrium is destroyed, which will occur by theloss of weight on the counterweight 23v which provides a timing functionwhich may be set to keep the system afloat until it has had time to movewith the wind over a pre-selected area. F

In other words, the invention provides a balloon envelope I 0 which isof a generally tubular shape with the. upper end or top edge 11 beingclosed. The material a! the lower end of the balloon envelope forms anopen end and a portion of the lower end of the balloon envelope isgathered together for only a portion of the dis: tance across the loweropen end. A band or cord 15 r e '1? s l r! m te ie damp g 4'; (Q

envelope becomes greater than the atmospheri'cpressure, the layers willseparate to permit the escape of gas. The layers thus act as anautomatic opening gas valve permitting the escape of gas and preventingthe. entry of atmospheric air.

, When the counter weight 23 becomes light enough through dissipation,etc. the arm 18 will rise in the direction of the arrow 36, the loopedcord 25 will gradually pull downwardly at the notch 24 until the cord 25will be released, and release of the cord at the point 26 will cause themember 28 to pivot in the direction of the arrow 37, releasing thelooped cord 31 and thence releasing the leaflets or load 32. At the sametime the cord 15 will be released and the noose 15 will enlarge, therebyincreasing the tendency of the hydrogen to escape, and

due to the fact that the load has been released, the tendency will befor the weight 12 to cause the balloon to turn completely over, wherebythe hydrogen will then flow freely through the top and will drop to theearth and be harmless.

Figures 7 and 8 show the action of the various parts as stated above,the balloon 10 being necessarily shown smaller in Figure 8 since it willappear as at a distance, and part of the leaflets 32 are shown at rightangles to the other leaflets due to the elfect of the wind carrying theleaflets away as they are released.

Figures and 6 illustrate a modification wherein the flaps 34 are boundedby a sealed border as at 38, and joining this border .at 39 is a furthersealed border 40, a ring 41 being secured to the sealed portion, andwith a. looped cord 42 (see also Figure 6) being attached about aportion of the ring 41, and thence passing around a portion of theballoon similar to the modification shown in Figure 1, the cord 42thence passing through the ring 41 and thence downwardly to the samerelease mechanism shown in Figure 2, it being also understood that othersimilar mechanisms could be employed. The arrangement described inFigures 5 and 6 will perform the same function, and other modificationscould be employed without departing from the essential spirit of myinvention incorporating the principle of the looped noose.

I further contemplate the provision of the loop structure in aconventional balloon not having the channel or flap structure 34, or inother words, a balloon in which the noose will pass around the entirebottom part thereof and which will be released when the load drops.

It will now be seen that I have provided the advantages mentioned in theobjects of my invention with further'advantages being readily apparent.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of theparts of my invention without departing from the real spirit and purposeof my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims anymodified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which maybe reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. A balloon comprising a gas inflated bag having a closed end, and anopenable end, means for closing a portion of said openable end wherebythe remaining portion of said openable end will provide a valve, saidclosing means including a flexible loop surrounding said portion to beclosed, means for pulling said loop tightly including a releasable loadattached at the lower terminal of said loop, a dissipatingcounter-weight co-acting with said releasable load to release saidreleasable load at a When the pressure a'ifierential changes s that thepressure inside of the balloon at the lower end of the.

pre-determined interval, whereby said loop will be opened, a pivotal armattached to said dissipating member, the lower terminal of said loopbeing attached to said pivotal am, an attaching member attached to saidpivotal arm and to said load, a releasing member normally attached tosaid attaching member and to said load, whereby pivoting of said armwill cause said releasing member to release saidload.

2. A balloon comprising a gas inflated bag having a closed end, and anopenable end, means for closing a portion of said openable end wherebythe remaining portion of said openable end will provide a valve, saidclosing means including a flexible loop surrounding said portion to beclosed, means for pulling said loop tightly including a releasable loadattached at the lower terminal of said loop, a weight attached at thetop of said balloon for overturning said balloon upon release of saidload.

3. A balloon system comprising a gas inflated bag having one of its endsnormally operable substantially throughout the length of said end, meansfor closing a portion of said openable end whereby the remaining portionof said openable end will provide a valve, said closing means includinga flexible loop surrounding said portion to be closed, means for pullingsaid loop tightly including a-relcasable load attached at the lowerterminal of said loop a dissipating counterweight co-acting with saidloop and said releasable load to release said releasable load and saidloop at a predetermined interval.

4. A balloon system comprising a gas inflated bag having one of its endsnormally openable substantially throughout the length of said end, meansfor closing a portion of said openable end whereby the remaining portionof said openable end will provide a valve, said closing means includinga flexible loop surrounding said portion to be closed, means for pullingsaid loop tightly including a releasable load attached at the lowerterminal of said loop, a dissipating counterweight co-acting with saidloop and said releasable load to release said releasable load and saidloop at a pre-determined interval, including a pivotal arm attached atone end to said dissipating counterweight, the lower terminal of saidloop being attached to the other end of said pivotal arm, an attachingmember attached to said pivotal arm and to said load, a releasing membernormally attached to said attaching member and to said load, pivoting ofsaid arm causing said releasing member to release said load.

5. A balloon system comprising a gas inflated bag having one of its endsnormally openable substantially throughout the length of said end, meansfor closing a portion of said openable end whereby the remaining portionof said openable end will provide a valve, a releas- A able loadattached to said balloon, a weight attached at the top of said balloonfor over-turning said balloon when said releasable load is released.

'6. A balloon comprising a generally tubular shaped balloon envelope tobe inflated with a lifting gas for supporting a pay load being formed ofa thin plastic material, means closing the upper end of the balloonenvelope, a portion of the lower end of the envelope being gatheredtogether for only a portion of the distance across the lower open end,and means holding the material of said gathered portion togetherpreventing the leakage of gas therethrough, the layers of plasticmaterial at the side of said gathered portion being in freely engagingconfronting relationship so that atmospheric air pressure can hold saidlayers together preventing the entry of air, and gas pressure within theballoon can force said layers apart to permit the escape of gas so thatsaid layers of material act as a gas valve.

7. A balloon comprising a generally tubular shaped balloon envelope tothe inflated with a lifting gas for supporting a pay load being formedof a thin plastic material, means closing the upper end of the balloon nel pe, a Port o f t lower e f th nve op being gathered together for onlya p'ortion'of the distance across the lower open end, and a band securedaround the gathered material holding it together and preventing leakageof gas therethrough, the layers of plastic material at the side of saidgathered portion being in freely engaging confronting relationship sothat atmospheric air pressure can hold said layers together preventingthe entry of air, and gas pressure within the balloon can force saidlayers apart to permit the escape of gas so that said layers of materialact as a gas valve.

8. A balloon comprising a generally tubular shaped balloon envelope tobe inflated with a lifting gas for supporting a pay load being formed ofa thin plastic material, means closing the upper end of the balloonenvelope, a portion of the lower end of the envelope being gatheredtogether for only a portion of the distance across the lower open end,means clamping the material of said gathered portion together andholding it preventing the leakage of gas therethrough, the layers of 1plastic material at the side of said gathered portion being in freelyengaging confronting relationship so that atmospheric air pressure canhold said layers together preventing the entry of atmospheric air, andgas pressure within the balloon can force said layers apart to permitthe escape of gas so that said layers of material act as a gas valve,and means for releasing said clamping means releasing said gatheredmaterial so that the material can spread and open the balloon envelopeto the atmosphere for terminating the flight of the balloon.

Winzen Aug. 14, I956 Dooge May 28, 1957

